1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission power control method and a mobile communication system for controlling a transmission power of an absolute transmission rate control channel including an absolute transmission rate of uplink user data, which is transmitted from a cell controlled by a radio base station to a mobile station.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional mobile communication system, when setting a Dedicated Physical Channel (DPCH) between a mobile station UE and a radio base station Node B, a radio network controller RNC is configured to determine a transmission rate of uplink user data, in consideration of hardware resources for receiving of the radio base station Node B (hereinafter, hardware resource), a radio resource in an uplink (an interference volume in an uplink), a transmission power of the mobile station UE, a transmission processing performance of the mobile station UE, a transmission rate required for an upper application, or the like, and to notify the determined transmission rate of the uplink user data by a message of a layer-3 (Radio Resource Control Layer) to both of the mobile station UE and the radio base station Node B.
Here, the radio network controller RNC is provided at an upper level of the radio base station Node B, and is an apparatus configured to control the radio base station Node B and the mobile station UE.
In general, data communications often cause burst traffic compared with voice communications or TV communications. Therefore, it is preferable that a transmission rate of a channel used for the data communications is changed fast.
However, as shown in FIG. 1, the radio network controller RNC integrally controls a plurality of radio base stations Node B in general. Therefore, in the conventional mobile communication system, there has been a problem that it is difficult to perform fast control for changing of the transmission rate of uplink user data (for example, per approximately 1 through 100 ms), due to the increase of processing load and processing delay in the radio network controller RNC.
In addition, in the conventional mobile communication system, there has been also a problem that costs for implementing an apparatus and for operating a network are substantially increased even if the fast control for changing of the transmission rate of the uplink user data can be performed.
Therefore, in the conventional mobile communication system, control for changing of the transmission rate of the uplink user data is generally performed on the order from a few hundred ms to a few seconds.
Accordingly, in the conventional mobile communication system, when burst data transmission is performed as shown in FIG. 2A, the data are transmitted by accepting low-speed, high-delay, and low-transmission efficiency as shown in FIG. 2B, or, as shown in FIG. 2C, by reserving radio resources for high-speed communications to accept that radio bandwidth resources in an unoccupied state and hardware resources in the radio base station Node B are wasted.
It should be noted that both of the above-described radio bandwidth resources and hardware resources are applied to the vertical radio resources in FIGS. 2B and 2C.
Therefore, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), which are international standardization organizations of the third generation mobile communication system, have discussed a method for controlling radio resources at high speed in a layer-1 and a media access control (MAC) sub-layer (a layer-2) between the radio base station Node B and the mobile station UE, so as to utilize the uplink radio resources effectively. Such discussions or discussed functions will be hereinafter referred to as “Enhanced Uplink (EUL)”.
Referring to FIG. 3, the mobile communication system, to which the “Enhanced Uplink” is applied, is explained.
As shown in an example of FIG. 3, the cell #2 which is controlled by the radio base station Node B #1 is a serving cell for controlling the transmission rate of uplink user data of the mobile station UE mainly, and the cell #2 is configured to transmit an “Enhanced Absolute Grant Channel (E-AGCH)” which notifies an absolute transmission rate of the uplink user data, to the mobile station UE.
In addition, the above mobile communication system is configured to control the transmission rate of the uplink user data transmitted via an “Enhanced Dedicated Physical Channel (E-DPDCH)” based on the transmission rate control using the above described E-AGCH.
Further, in the above mobile communication system, a closed loop transmission power control using a “Transmit Power Control (TPC) command” is known, as an example of the transmission power control method for a downlink dedicated physical channel (herein after, DPCH) transmitted from the radio base station Node B.
Referring to FIG. 4A, the closed loop transmission power control using the TPC command is described.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the mobile station UE, which has received a downlink DPCH transmitted from the cell #2, is configured to determine the increase/decrease of a transmission power of the downlink DPCH in the cell #2 controlled by the radio base station Node B, based on the transmission power of the received downlink DPCH. Then, the mobile station UE is configured to transmit the determined result of the increase/decrease of the transmission power of the downlink DPCH to the cell #2, using the TPC command (for example, UP command/Down Command).
In addition, the cell #2 is configured to control the transmission power of the downlink DPCH to be transmitted to the mobile station UE, using the TPC command transmitted from the mobile station UE.
In the example of FIG. 4A, the cell #2 is a serving cell for controlling the transmission rate of the uplink user data transmitted from the mobile station UE mainly, and the cell #2 is configured to transmit the E-AGCH to the mobile station UE.
In addition, in the above mobile communication system, the cell #2 which is a serving cell for the mobile station UE is configured to determine the transmission power of the E-AGCH, based on the transmission power of the downlink DPCH and a predetermined offset (an E-AGCH offset).
As described above, in the mobile communication system, the reception power of the downlink DPCH in the mobile station UE will be improved by the transmission power control using the TPC command, and therefore, the reception power of the E-AGCH, which depends on the downlink DPCH, will be also improved.
Next, referring to FIG. 4B, the transmission power control using the TPC command in the mobile communication system in which soft-handover (SHO) is performed is described.
In the above mobile communication system, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the mobile station UE is performing the SHO by establishing radio links with the cell #3 as well as the cell #4, and when the mobile station UE receives the same DPCHs #1 transmitted from the cell #3 and the cell #4, the mobile station UE is configured to combine the DPCH #1 received from the cell #3 and the DPCH #1 received from the cell #4, so as to determine the increase/decrease of the transmission power of the DPCH #1 in both of the cell #3 and the cell #4, based on the reception power of the combined DPCH #1.
Then, the mobile station UE is configured to transmit the determined result of the increase/decrease of the transmission power of the DPCH #1 to the both of the cell #3 and the cell #4, using the TPC command.
Here, in the example of FIG. 4B, the cell #3 is a serving cell for the mobile station UE, and the cell #4 is a non-serving cell for the mobile station UE, which is a cell other than the serving cell and establishes a radio link with the mobile station UE. Accordingly, the mobile station UE is configured to receive the E-AGCH #1 which is transmitted from the serving cell #3.
In addition, in the above mobile communication system, the transmission power of the E-AGCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 is configured to be determined, based on the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 and the predetermined offset (the E-AGCH offset).
Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, in the above mobile communication system, if the mobile station UE is performing the SHO by establishing the radio links with the cell #3 as well as the cell #4, and if the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 is good enough, even when the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4 is insufficient, the reception power of the combined DPCH #1 will be sufficient for the mobile station UE.
Therefore, in the above mobile communication system, the mobile station UE can receive the DPCH #1, if the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 is good enough, even when the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4 is insufficient.
Accordingly, in such a condition, the transmission power of the DPCH #1 does not have to be increased, and the mobile station UE is configured not to transmit the TPC command (for example, UP command) for increasing the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4.
However, when the environment around the mobile station UE is changed in accordance with the moving of the mobile station UE, and the like, when the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the serving cell #3 decreases, and when the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the non-serving cell #4 increases, the mobile station UE does not have to increase the transmission power of the DPCH #1, as the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #4 is good enough.
Accordingly, the mobile station UE is not configured to transmit the TPC command (for example, UP command) for increasing the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3, so that the reception power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the serving cell #3 cannot be improved.
Here, the transmission power of the E-AGCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 is determined, based on the transmission power of the DPCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3, and the predetermined offset (for example, by multiplying or adding the E-AGCH offset to the DPCH, and the like).
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, the mobile station UE may not receive the E-AGCH #1, because the reception power of the E-AGCH #1 transmitted from the cell #3 is insufficient.
Therefore, there has been a problem that, when the SHO is performing in the mobile communication system, as shown in FIG. 5, the mobile station UE cannot control the transmission rate of the uplink user data of the mobile station UE (such as E-DPDCH #1) based on the E-AGCH transmitted from the serving cell #3.